[GI Joe Post-25th and beyond] A Real American Military-Industrial-Entertainment Complex

I had and loved that thing when I was a kid. I think it's time to get one for the work desk.
-Mason

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Matthewalt &quot;I actually kinda LIKE that approach! You know: let's make a TOY. Remember those? Products designed to be played with without breaking? DO YOU REMEMBER, LOVE?!&quot;

gingaio Wrote:
>
> Imagine if an SOC was released that was anime
> accurate down to the tiniest detail, had perfect
> transformation (no parts swapping), and was
> tougher and more “playable” than a Takatoku 1/55
> valk. A unicorn, in short. Low-Light would be the
> 3 3/4 –inch analogy.

I STILL don't have a Low-Light. I've only seen him once at retail and the one I saw had a terrible paint job. So I don't know firsthand exactly how amazing he is - but isn't it the case that he still can't lift his head enough to sight his rifle while lying prone? That's a problem I'd like to see a 3 3/4" Joe solve before I could call it perfect.

Now tell me you don't have to apply all the decals manually for the Skystriker reboot? I still have bad flashbacks of applying all those "No Step" stickers on my little brother's Skystriker back in the day.

H-man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now tell me you don't have to apply all the decals
> manually for the Skystriker reboot? I still have
> bad flashbacks of applying all those "No Step"
> stickers on my little brother's Skystriker back in
> the day.

Sorry Harv, it's got even more stickers than the original, and is completely bare out of the box. So bare, in fact, that I decided to panel-line it. Haven't yet worked up the energy to put the stickers on!

Assembly (of the cockpit, wings, tailfins, etc.) took a couple of minutes.

Stickering the thing took maybe an hour-and-a-half to two hours. Granted, I was watching a movie on my computer while doing it, but it still was kind of a buzz-kill after the elation of opening/fondling the thing.

I was in Jersey this weekend and I found that a couple of Borders stores that are closing have that rare wave of GI Joe movie Alpha vehicles - the Lava Pod w/ Volcano Viper, Polar Shark Sub w/ Ice Storm, Desert Rockslide w/ Dusty and Tiger Claw w/ Leatherneck. They're marked up, but after the clearance discounts they come to about eleven dollars each.

Most of this stuff is pretty dull - 3 of the vehicles are just recolors, Ice Storm is extremely generic, and Dusty and Leatherneck are more like army builders than characters - but the Volcano Viper figure and the Polar Shark vehicle are fantastic and I'd recommend .

Oh, and while I'm on the topic, the Mantis Attack Craft has been showing up at TJ Maxx stores, along with some movie and 25th anniversary carded figures. If you don't have the Mantis yet, I'd recommend that too. The Aqua-Viper Officer that comes with the Mantis is a remold of the Lamprey from the Defense of Cobra Island box set, but he looks very different with his red and black color scheme, and the new helmet is great. Plus, he's that very rare unmasked Cobra figure - I wish he had his own code name.

And in Joe news that actually matters, somewhere along the line I must have missed the memo that Hasbro is testing the 12" Joe market again, with Target getting a 'heroes' assortment. Police with dog, Firefighter and two Army guys, one with working parachute.

Not the horrid crap they've done lately with the molded on clothing and giant rubber weapons, back to the early 2K with the 'improved Action Man' body used for their Adventure Team releases, real cloth clothing and all that.

but again, the same mistakes. $20 for a figure and fairly basic clothing and accessories (more for the paratrooper. dammit.) which wouldn't be so bad but the common thing is, how many Joes do you need when you have clothing that can be changed out? The lack of separate uniforms and accessories will doom this line again.

I saw the 12" figures as well. I couldn't say no to the firefighter and he is a pretty decent toy. I agree that the lack of accessory/uniform packs will kill these again, but it is nice to see them step away from those awful bodies they used for the last release. On a side note it is cool to see some non-combat figures in the line. I have always liked the firefighters, astronauts, race car drivers, and adventure team stuff.

Walking through the Wal-mart at 5:30am on my way to work with a case of diet coke in my hand I spied a peg full of the new 3.75" joes. Most were hold overs from previous waves but there were three new cobra troops that i liked the looks of enough to buy. The Viper with chromed faceplate, hazard-viper, and iron grenadier are all great looking, well detailed, well accessorized, and highly articulated. These are the first small joes (well cobras) that i've bought in probably 25 years or so...I have really been trying to stay away from them and with wave after wave of reissue old real american heroes (none of which were accurate enough) and crappy movie tie in waves it was easy. However, i caved on these three. They just looked too cool to pass up for $6 and change...

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Matthewalt &quot;I actually kinda LIKE that approach! You know: let's make a TOY. Remember those? Products designed to be played with without breaking? DO YOU REMEMBER, LOVE?!&quot;

I was buying a motorcycle battery today and stopped by the toy isle at Walmart. To my surprise, they had a ton of new Joe figures. In addition to the Renegades cast of Scarlet, Tunnel Rat, Ripcord, and Cobra Trooper, they had Sci-Fi, Lifeline, Airtight, and Techno-Viper. I picked up the latter four.

Sci-Fi, Lifeline, Airtight, and Techno-Viper have gorgeous color schemes and are loaded to the gills with accessories. Lifeline alone must have bombed their tooling budget. It's unbelievable. Detailed reviews can be found here.

There is a downside to the massive amounts of gear these dood come with. Hasbro had to balance the budget somewhere, and they did that by: 1) dropping some of the prototype gear; 2) dropping some of the paint apps; and 3) dropping the quality of the plastic. The first two are not deal breakers (although Lifeline looks nekkid without his paratrooper pack). But the cheaper plastic is a major turn off. All the figures have rubbery limbs and loose joints because of it.

Still, for a little over $5 a piece these are the best fun out there at the moment. And I can't get over all the details. Lifeline has shock paddles, an IV, an O2 can, a syringe, an medivac board, a pistol, a knife, a huge gun, and a helmet! (Note the plethora of weaponry for a character who, in the 1980s, first introduced young Gcrush to the vocabulary word, and associated morally bankrupt philosophy of, Pacifism.)

I can't wait to pick up the new Storm Shadow and Zombie Viper. Mmm, good.

I didn't notice it until you linked to that "naked" photo of RLC. I looked at the one standing on my shelf and noticed that the belt is pushed a lot lower on the waist, so it doesn't look so bad. But... Yeah. These troopers is made for baby care. That's why they come with the super-snazzy neon green Cobra traffic cones and pneumatic diaper changing claws.

I have a bad feeling that those wrist hoses run up the back of his sleves and down his back. With Cobra being bound by no conventions of war, they have finally crossed the line and introduced the fear inspiring "pooper-shooters"!

Shipwreck: Save my bones for Davy Jones, would you look at all of that!?!

Rock n' Roll: Oh man, do you have any idea how many of these you are missing?

Tripwire: Dudes, for the last time, this thing only detects METAL!!!

Low Light: And I finally broke down for a new pair of boots...ugh. No more ground recon for me.

Lt. Falcon: Oh no, look! Duke slipped on "one of those" and hit his head on a rock...I think he's fading. Come on, he survived Nam, received the Medal of Honor, survived one of Serpentor's "coma-inducing" snakes going through his heart...and THIS is how he goes out?

The new Dreadnoks pack from BBTS is the shit. I really only bought it for Zandar and Thrasher, but the gem of the set is actually Road Pig, the largest figure that comes with its own version of Mjolnir and a shield made out of a busted road sign, which has a handle apparatus that can only be described as Gundamesque.

Of all the modern Joe figures released so far, these Dreadnoks are the ones that have benefited the most from being updated. The doofy 80s aesthetic, which I still appreciate, rendered these outlaw bikers as harmless goofballs. The new versions look like they're part of a modern Mad Max or Fist of the North Star line. Neat.

Along with the recent wave of 30th anniversary figures (Sci-Fi, Airtight, Lifeline), Hasbro is continuing some great work here. In fact, they should probably just leave the Transformers to the Tercera Fiestas in China. :)

Did Zartan's hair change color? If so, what color was it to begin with? I know a latter figure had an orange mohawk, but that couldn't have been his real color, right? I guess if it was, that would be reason enough to shave it off. Hurmmm?

It's unsurprising but interesting that these are striking a balance between the pseudorealistic style of the movie and Pursuit of Cobra line and the more cartoony style of Renegades or Resolute. To me, this look captures the spirit of the old toys more than the 25th anniversary line did.

OK NOW I'M SO FUCKING EXCITED. I mean, the last movie directly adapted many elements of the comic book story, but totally missed the *tone* of the comic.

I'm kinda sad that Destro is being marginalized, because Christopher Eccleston as Destro was the best part of the first movie. But hopefully if this one works out and they do another sequel, they can bring him back and recast with someone else good.

Made the mistake of seeing the last turkey in the theaters, ugh, was that hard to watch. I'm not sure what the universal law of directors re-booting beloved properties of which they either know nothing or just don't "get" is, but this at least sounds like it could buck the trend.

I'll still wait to hear from some other poor sap who goes first and reports back. And hopefully they'll be honest and not sucker other people into seeing it to out of revenge for thier miserable experience. I've never done that.